Your Mom Was Right: Don’t shop on an Empty Stomach

by Tabitha Boyd, age 14

Two
researchers at Cornell University arranged an experiment to finally
settle the score about the age-old diet advice: “Never shop on an empty
stomach.” In the experiment, sixty-eight men and women were
asked not to eat for five hours. Then they were divided into two groups
and allowed to shop for food in a simulated grocery store on two
different days. The store offered healthy low-calorie foods and
unhealthy high-calorie foods. Before grocery shopping, half of
the participants were given a snack. Both groups purchased a similar
number of items, but those that didn’t receive the snack picked the
highest-calorie foods. In the second phase, the researchers
followed eighty-two shoppers in a real grocery store. Once again, those
shopping at times when they were most hungry chose the high-calorie
foods. Rita F. Redburg, a cardiologist, wrote an
editorial about this research. From her own experience she advised to
never shop on an empty stomach or with young children –they both lead to
unhealthy food choices.